Predators 5, Wild 1
Nick Spaling scored twice while Marcel Goc and Joel Ward each recorded a goal and an assist as the Nashville Predators posted their sixth straight win, a 5-1 home victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
David Legwand also tallied and captain Shea Weber extended his points streak to six games with an assist for the Predators, who had lost three of their previous four at Bridgestone Arena.
After Legwand and Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu traded first-period goals, Ward put Nashville ahead for good 62 seconds into the middle session with his fifth of the season.
Spaling then doubled his goal total for the campaign, beating Jose Theodore with a wrist shot at 4:18 of the third and jamming the puck inside the left post just over six minutes later for a 4-1 cushion.
Goc capped the scoring with 7:07 remaining, pouncing on a turnover in the right faceoff circle and beating Anton Khudobin high to the glove side for his eighth goal of the season and just his second in 17 games.
Pekka Rinne made 25 saves for Nashville en route to his fifth consecutive victory. Rinne has allowed just one goal in each of the triumphs.
Theodore surrendered four tallies on 25 shots before being replaced midway through the third by Khudobin, who made four saves. The Wild fell to 5-1-1 in their last seven on the road.